I don't think it will be a problem. Prokhorov is trying to buy a championship, and it's probably not going to work. The team will win a lot of games, and they may see the EC finals, but they're aging and will take time to learn to play together. If Garnett and/or Pierce retire in a year or two, they're going to be screwed, too, since they will have no assets (i.e. 1st round picks) to rebuild with. They're going to play the free agency game for awhile, until they realize that it's probably not going work all that well.

I don't think it will be a problem. Prokhorov is trying to buy a championship, and it's probably not going to work. The team will win a lot of games, and they may see the EC finals, but they're aging and will take time to learn to play together. If Garnett and/or Pierce retire in a year or two, they're going to be screwed, too, since they will have no assets (i.e. 1st round picks) to rebuild with. They're going to play the free agency game for awhile, until they realize that it's probably not going work all that well.

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I wonder if Prokhorov is thinking more like a soccer team manager as that is exactly how soccer teams are being built.

I'm sure he's thinking like an entitled billionaire businessman that doesn't realize he's playing with other entitled billionaire businessmen.

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That too, but the soccer system is totally different. There's no draft, barely any trades. Players are bought from a team by another team as long as the transfer price is agreeable and player agrees to sign with that new team that is acquiring him.

I think it is important to remember the NBA is basically the US basketball cartel and each team is only a franchise, operating within the guidelines of that greater NBA.

Yes there is competition between the franchises, but at the end of the day, the owners are all in business together. Cuban tried to be a maverick (pun intended) owner and the league reined him in very quickly.

The players, while stakeholders and content providers for the league, are still just employees, and their ability to collective bargain is meant to offset the power of the NBA as a cartel (although I personally think that's a farce).

As a fan of economics, I can say confidently that any attempt to price fix, whether it is healthcare in the US, food in the old USSR or salaries in the NBA will have unintended consequences over the long run. I suspect capping NBA salaries means more players may choose to play overseas, where ironically the mood is much more socialistic, but the sports clubs are run by dog eat dog capitalists.

In a world of compensation for results, rarely does limiting the rewards attract the best talent.

I think it is important to remember the NBA is basically the US basketball cartel and each team is only a franchise, operating within the guidelines of that greater NBA.

Yes there is competition between the franchises, but at the end of the day, the owners are all in business together. Cuban tried to be a maverick (pun intended) owner and the league reigned him in very quickly.

The players, while stakeholders and content providers for the league, are still just employees, and their ability to collective bargain is meant to offset the power of the NBA as a cartel (although I personally think that's a farce).

As a fan of economics, I can say confidently that any attempt to price fix, whether it is healthcare in the US, food in the old USSR or salaries in the NBA will have unintended consequences over the long run. I suspect capping NBA salaries means more players may choose to play overseas, where ironically the mood is much more socialistic, but the sports clubs are run by dog eat dog capitalists.

In a world of compensation for results, rarely does limiting the rewards attract the best talent.

That too, but the soccer system is totally different. There's no draft, barely any trades. Players are bought from a team by another team as long as the transfer price is agreeable and player agrees to sign with that new team that is acquiring him.

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Also, players sign new contracts at each club and are bound by continental contract law, rather than any particular leagues contract laws. So if a soccer player has a "contract year", where they play exceptionally well, it forces clubs to offer them new contracts at higher pay rates for long periods of time, rather than suffer from them trying to force through a transfer. This doesn't happen in the NBA and generally means that a)people are stuck with wholly useless players and b)it is easier to control the salary levels of the team.

Having said that, youth development programs in soccer are far more comprehensive, but I prefer a system where there are some restrictions on salary, even if they take the form of tolls.